Another New XTi Owner

I think I'm beginning to figure something out here...currently I really don't do any photo editing of the pictures I take. All I've been doing is moving the image files from the memory card to my computer, filing them away and then look at them with a photo viewer (like IrfanView).

Now after reading a few more threads it seems that pictures that come out of DSLRs can be a little soft compared to P&S cameras (like my Olympus C-750). I've been comparing pictures between the XTi and the C-750 and felt the C-750 was taking "better" pictures. Now I find that many of you are doing "post processing" (just learned what this is) work on your pictures with photo editing programs (like Photo Shop or Photo Shop Elements) to actually make the pictures look the way they do...some of the pictures posted on this forum are absolutely amazing. I'm assuming it's because they're not straight from the camera but have been worked on.

I'm also assuming that many of these amazing pictures were taken in the RAW format and not JPEG and in the hand of an experienced photo editor these RAW images are skillfully manipulated into fantastic works of art.

Before I ramble on too much I'll just say that I really have a lot to learn...so much so that it's getting a little overwhelming. I need to get my mind off the DSLR and just go rest somewhere...

Read about "unsharp mask" in a few threads so I did a search of the forums for more info...my goodness, it'll take me forever to learn how to do post processing work on my photos. I don't have Photo Shop (way too expensive for a casual shooter like me) but I do have The Gimp and have been playing around with it...it's supposed to be very powerful but the learning curve is astronomical, so I'm thinking of getting Photo Shop Elements 6 and use a few of the many on-line tutorials to learn how to do PP work with it.

Boy, from a simple hobby this is almost becoming like a second job...lots to learn and lots to do...but I think all the effort will be worth it in the end.

Samanax

Samanax wrote in post #4564549
I think I'm beginning to figure something out here...currently I really don't do any photo editing of the pictures I take.....
Now after reading a few more threads it seems that pictures that come out of DSLRs can be a little soft compared to P&S cameras (like my Olympus C-750).

You can also get very similar results with your Canon by changing the default jpeg settings. Bump up the contrast, saturation and especially the sharpness and you'll get almost the same thing. Whether you post process in camera or an external tool is irrelevant. The P/S cameras do the post processing in camera and your Canon can do the same.

Samanax wrote in post #4564549
I'm also assuming that many of these amazing pictures were taken in the RAW format and not JPEG and in the hand of an experienced photo editor these RAW images are skillfully manipulated into fantastic works of art.

Before I ramble on too much I'll just say that I really have a lot to learn...so much so that it's getting a little overwhelming. I need to get my mind off the DSLR and just go rest somewhere...

RAW allows the photographer much more control over each shot thus you can get the maximum out of an image. However, you have to have a great image to start with. Creativity, artistic quality, lighting, and color are all set before the image is captured. But if your interested in learning, a great way to do so and also get a good shot is to shoot raw+jpeg. Bump the contrast, saturation, and sharpness anyway to get a more vivid jpeg and also give a try to manipulating the raw file. Do a search around the forum in work flow, that is the order of modifications to the image and experiment away. The nice thing about a raw file is that you can always return to the original if your not happy with the results.

gjl711 wrote in post #4567700
You can also get very similar results with your Canon by changing the default jpeg settings. Bump up the contrast, saturation and especially the sharpness and you'll get almost the same thing. Whether you post process in camera or an external tool is irrelevant. The P/S cameras do the post processing in camera and your Canon can do the same.

Thanks for the info and advice, gjl711...I read through the manual and found those settings and started to play with them, but have been conservative...will start to bump them up more and see what happens.

gjl711 wrote in post #4567700
RAW allows the photographer much more control over each shot thus you can get the maximum out of an image. However, you have to have a great image to start with. Creativity, artistic quality, lighting, and color are all set before the image is captured. But if your interested in learning, a great way to do so and also get a good shot is to shoot raw+jpeg. Bump the contrast, saturation, and sharpness anyway to get a more vivid jpeg and also give a try to manipulating the raw file. Do a search around the forum in work flow, that is the order of modifications to the image and experiment away. The nice thing about a raw file is that you can always return to the original if your not happy with the results.

Been meaning to try RAW but gotta get more experience just shooting for now. There is just so much to learn (just trying to learn GIMP will take awhile) and I don't want to get overwhelmed with everything (which could lead to frustration and losing interest) so I'll take it slow for now and progress at a rate I'm comfortable with. I have no plans to do this for a living, it's just a hobby and a hobby should be fun.

I'll bump up those settings and start taking more pictures and see how it goes.

Thanks again,
Samanax

Welcome to the forums man. These forums are pretty damn good I must say.

I'd personally dive right into RAW. Then again when I got my first dSLR (20D a couple months back), I had the concepts of digital point-and-shoot and manual film SLR photography in my head, I just needed to combine them into digital SLR photography

Everything is very straightforward in a technical sense. Very much like computers. However, photography is mostly art so it's got that subjective vibe around everything

BTW... PCMech? Not familiar. Go join OCForums for a real computer forum haha

SolidxSnake wrote in post #4570722
BTW... PCMech? Not familiar. Go join OCForums for a real computer forum haha

Thanks, but no...I've been to many computer forums around the net and the one at PC Mech was the most civil (no flame wars or trolling for trouble) and helpful one I came across, so I registered and have been a member ever since 1999. Don't need to look for another computer forum as I've been very happy there all these years.

Cricket

Samanax wrote in post #4570813
Thanks, but no...I've been to many computer forums around the net and the one at PC Mech was the most civil (no flame wars or trolling for trouble) and helpful one I came across, so I registered and have been a member ever since 1999. Don't need to look for another computer forum as I've been very happy there all these years.

Cricket

Hmm... sounds just like OCF. Best classifieds at OCF on the net though

But I digress. We're both on POTN which I'd dare to say is the second best forum on the web, no?

Just got the XTI for christmas from my wonderful boyfriend. My son has an XT so he is trying to teach me some. I have an Minota 7000 AF that i love ,then a kodak 210 P&S that was a good camera years ago for me. This one is a challage but I can;t wait to get outside and shoot. I have 3 grandkids for models also. Poor dog is tired of the flashy thing in my hands all the time. I think she is ready to run away. I have photoshop to play with too. Hope to post some shots soon. Hope all had a Merry Christmas! I did!

Samanax wrote in post #4562233
I've been using Olympus P&S digital cameras since 2003 (D-520, C-4000 & C-750) and thought the XTi would automatically take much better pictures than the P&S cameras but found out that's not the case...

Yep, that's Canon's "awesome" advertising for you. Those Digital Rebel XTi commercials do look as if the XTi is going to just snap out some amazingly awesome photos with some super-enhanced P&S technology. Then people purchase the thing and are often disappointed and want to blame the camera for bad photos.

You definitely have the right frame of mind. You realized the camera doesn't take spectacular photos on its own (I'm guilty of feeling this way when I purchased my XT a year and a half ago) and that you must put some time into actually learning how to use it.

Congratulations on purchasing a MORE than capable camera, and best of luck with your journey into the addicting world of DSLR photography.

And welcome to POTN.

I just got my XTi on Sunday for xmas

I decided to get the body only and the 17-85 IS lens seperate (I really wanted IS).

So far I'm pretty happy with the results I'm getting. My last camera was a Sony H5 superzoom so I got a bit of practise with the manual modes.

I took shots of the family christmas with my 550EX flash and it's really nice- no red eye! Bouncing it off the wall or ceiling doesn't blind people either.. lol

I've been shooting in RAW and I almost feel guilty for being able to manipulate my crappily taken pictures into something decent!

Lots of people use Photoshop Lightroom which is a cool program for editing and organizing your workflow. I find it a bit overwhelming for what I do, I really like Adobe Bridge- great for viewing/organizing photos and then just click on "edit in camera RAW" which basically gives you the same editing controls as Lightroom. Elements and CS2/CS3 are great as well, just gotta find whats right for you (download the free trials).